The present invention relates to rechargeable battery operated appliances and more specifically to a rechargeable battery operated appliance system in which a plurality of rechargeable battery operated appliances are coupled together through their charging stands for recharging purposes.
With the improvement in lightweight, rechargeable batteries, it has become common to power household kitchen appliances with such batteries. It is well known to utilize nickel cadmium battery packs with electric mixers, electric knives, and electric can openers. The nickel cadmium cells are easily recharged and provide ample power between recharging for performance of the normal mixing and slicing tasks demanded of mixers and knives, respectively. The battery operated kitchen appliances are conventionally provided with small charging stands which receive the appliance for storage purposes and at the same time recharge the batteries contained in the appliances. One of the problems which has developed is the difficulty of accommodating all of the cords which are required for the various charging stands along with the other appliance cords which might normally be used in a kitchen.
One patent showing a typical rechargeable appliance is Springer U.S. Pat. No. 3,143,697 which shows a rechargeable battery operated toothbrush with an associated charging stand which supports and receives a toothbrush for recharging the batteries. Wolter et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,280,351 shows a mixer having a rechargeable battery pack and a charging stand for the mixer. The patent to Ackley U.S. Pat. No. 3,696,283 discloses an arrangement in which a series of recharging stands may be connected in tandem to the recharging power supply. Also of interest is the Hanson, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,096,428 which has a charging stand suitable for accommodating a number of rechargeable battery operated appliances. Also noted is the patent to Rice U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,836. Another approach to accommodating multiple cords is disclosed in Leibensperger, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,150. None of the foregoing arrangements are suitable for use in kitchen appliances which may be purchased separately and require means for simplifying or eliminating the problem of multiple cords or rechargers cluttering up the kitchen.